Marauders in Love
by James the Game
Summary: A day in the lives of James and his peers. McGonagall is a hot young professor, involved in a steamy affair with a student. Tension between James and Snape is very high, with a huge prize up for grabs: the heart of the woman they both love. Please R
1. Lusting for a Lycan

** Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, and anyone else they belong to. I am a college student, and therefore do not have any money. I would never knowingly do anything such as copyright infringement as the chances of me getting out of debt if I am sued are less than zero. Thus, I have received, and will receive, no money for this work.

**  
Marauders in Love**

**Chapter 1: Lusting for a Lycan  
**

The final bell was ringing to end a long Thursday of classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A young witch in short black robes with long flowing dyed black hair that was carefully managed in a way to drive certain students and younger professors wild turned to face her class, waving a hand gracefully towards the door as a way of dismissing her 6th year class. Just as they began to file out, she cleared her throat sweetly, making the majority of the class stop, though they all knew exactly who she was trying to keep behind. A sickly looking boy with pale skin and light brown slightly curly hair stopped his friends who had just finished packing up at the back of the room. "Padfoot, Prongs, don't cause too much trouble this afternoon before I catch up, and leave Snape alone Prongs, he's with Lily fair and square." With that he stood back and waited until all of his classmates were gone, pretending to mess with the contents of his backpack. He looked up to see the professor pushing the door closed and standing in front of it, a sexy smirk on her thin lips and a bold confidence in her blue eyes.

"So McGee, what is it that you wanted to see me so badly for?" Lupin asked, pretending that he really didn't know exactly what was going on here. All the while, he slowly made his way up to the front of the room trying hard to not show how the full moon, which had ended last night, affected him. No matter how much fun they had, the full moon still always had strong negative affects on this marauder. Last night was especially brutal, as a detention had prevented his normal companions from joining him and helping him through his transformation until he had caused himself considerable damage, and his back was now sore today to the point that he could barely walk and felt as if he had almost torn a chunk out of it. Padfoot and Prongs had been kept in detention so long by the young caretaker Filch that they had to completely cancel their planned invasion of Honeydukes and instead just hung out in the house set up for Lupin until he had gone back from wolf to human.

Reaching the very front of the now emptied classroom, he turned to find his professor leaning against the now closed and locked door, smirking seductively at him. "You know very well what my intentions for this afternoon are, Remus. That is, unless you need some time to recover, you seem to have taken this month's unpleasantness especially hard. We can't have you hurting or overexerting yourself, now can we?" Her smirk grew as she confidently strode over to him, pushing him firmly down onto her desk and hovering over him. She caught a wince though as his back hit the wood, and a look of fear and concern pulled at her attractive face. She really wanted this, needed her young lover right now, but if he could not handle pleasing her she would have to wait for another time. She tried to hide the hurt she felt, but did not know how good of a job she was doing. The young werewolf was smart, and could probably read exactly what was going on here. It was not helped that the carefree young woman was not in the practice of hiding what she thought too much, try as the new headmaster Dumbledore might to change that.

Lupin was indeed hurt, as his back hit the unforgiving wood of the desk. He did his best to hide it, as he wanted this, and knew the professor wanted it even more than he did, and more than she would ever show him. Though both parties certainly had appeal, neither was liable to show the full scope of what he or she was thinking to anyone, even if neither would fully hide his or her opinion or thoughts from anyone. That was beside the point though, as the professor clearly knew he was hurt, but he was determined that his pain would not stop what was about to happen here. It was not often that the two of them had a chance to be alone, and he would make completely sure that they got the absolute most they could out of this opportunity.

He pulled her back onto him, this time arching his back, to keep the large sore spot from hitting the desk. This also forced the two of them even closer together than they would have been, adding to the body heat and tension. The young woman slid her tongue into the boy's mouth, feeling the sharpened teeth with her tongue before moving on to massage the roof of his mouth. At the same time, she felt the young werewolf's tongue exploring her own more experienced mouth. He had not done this much before, her only taking him in this sense in the last few weeks. The teenaged lycan was still finding himself, in more ways than one. It would probably be a long process, one that the still young witch hoped to guide him completely through. There could be no one better than her to teach him everything he could possibly need to know about certain _adult_ functions.

Eventually, the teacher was forced to pull away, as there was clearly know more air in her pupil's lungs. She looked down at him, lust filling her blue eyes, her dark hair framing her face nicely. All the same, she could look at the boy below her, and know that he was not ready for this right now. His body was ravaged, clearly this month had been a harder one then normal on him, and she thought she knew why. Not that she was supposed to know, because if she were to discover the reason why some full moons were harder than others, she would be forced to turn in to the ministry two of her favorite students, along with one who she honestly did not care much for. Those three being entirely beside the point, she simply could not do this until her companion was at full health and strength.

She pulled away, standing back up fully and turning her back to the boy to wander over towards the classroom door. "I just can't do this right now Remus, it hurts you too badly." With that she opened the door, looking resolutely down until the boy was far gone. She could not bear to look at him now, to see the pain that was surely in his eyes, or to allow him to see the same thing reflected in hers. They could save this for another time, when both of them were at their best. It was all for the better.

It had hurt the werewolf badly indeed, but he never would have said anything about it. He was too caught up in what he had been learning from the amazingly hot professor during these very private lessons. All the same, he resignedly got up again, knowing that nothing else would be happening today. He grabbed his bag and slowly shuffled towards the open door, trying for a brief moment to get the young woman to look up. He moved through the doorway when this proved to be a wasted effort. "Some other time Professor," he said, his last words before he left the classroom, deciding to find his best friends earlier than expected. Hopefully they would be doing something insane, stupid, beyond foolish, yet fun all the same. Something that would allow his mind to slip away from the torture the last few days had been. The young werewolf just wanted one thing to go right for him right now.


	2. Fighters make Bad Lovers

**Chapter 2: Fighters make bad lovers**

One person in that 6th year class had not stopped at the instructor's words, but had continued right out the door, knowing that class was over and the room held nothing else for her. She was off, heading to the back table of the library, and nothing anyone said was going to stop her. When she came in sight of the table, her view of her unlikely Slytherin boyfriend was blocked by a tall back leading up to a messy head of jet black hair. "Be in the trophy room at midnight then Snivellus, and make sure to bring a second, you'll need it." With that James Potter, the most arrogant asshole Lily had ever met, turned and strode quickly past her. She thought of sticking her foot out to trip him, but settled instead on yelling at his back. "One day you'll get what's coming to you Potter, I only hope that I am there to see that arrogant smile get wiped off of your face."

With that she sat down, leaning across the table to briefly kiss her dark boyfriend, tilting her head sideways so as to avoid his abnormally large nose. She pulled away, looking into his eyes and seeing a slight fear growing there that he would never show in front James or his almost equally best friend. "Sevvy baby, what may I ask was that about?" She tried to keep her voice concerned, or even apprehensive, but it was to no avail. She ended up sounding greatly amused at the thought of James lying on his back groaning and possibly bleeding a little bit. She had been completely honest in what she had said to the big headed Prefect before. It would be the highlight of the term if she could see someone completely humiliate Potter in a duel. It would be made even sweeter if it was Severus who did it, and if she could somehow help him escape any punishment that might normally result from whatever he did to Potter.

Severus had leaned into the kiss slightly, and then just as quickly leaned back as Lily moved away. His mind was far from this library, and anything that was going on here. In his thoughts, he was already in the dark, empty trophy room, waiting for Potter and Black to arrive, a little late, like they arrived for everything. He had Lily over to the side, safely out of reach, as his own personal taunt to James. Everyone knew that he wanted Lily Evans more than anything, and that it practically killed him every time he saw her at the side of Severus, his only true enemy in this school, the only one whom he regarded as being worthy of his full attention as an adversary. Oh how sweet it was to be Severus Snape right now.

He had heard Lily's question, but he pretended not to for a while, calming his nerves and picturing victory finally instead of some nasty defeat. He then looked up, locking his determined black eyes on the admiring bright green ones across from him. "I am going to do just as you said and give Potter what's coming to him," he said working hard to keep the sneer he would have normally used there out of his voice. "Would you like to be there to see it happen?" Suddenly he was seized by a reckless idea that would embarrass Potter before they even began dueling. "Lily, dear, I've got something even better. How would you like to be my second in the duel tonight?" Severus smirked evilly, knowing what such a confident display would do to James Potter. He might not even be able to duel at all after seeing that.

This thought process was cut off quickly by the look on Lily's face immediately after he voice his idea. "I will watch at a safe distance, but I will by no means be your second tonight," she said sternly. "Even if your intention is merely to humiliate Potter, that is no excuse any real man would give for risking the life of his girlfriend in a duel with someone as curse happy as Potter. If that is your goal, you are also underestimating Potter greatly. You may well both need a second to help you finish this duel, and Potter would not hesitate to hex you into oblivion just because you showed up under prepared tonight." With that she fell into an angry silence, glaring at Severus until he could come up with an explanation to talk his way out of this.

Severus had been left sputtering through most of Lily's brief rant which had been directed at him. Finally, when she was almost done, he gained control of his mind, racing to quickly come up with a solution before he damaged their relationship. He knew that Lily was far too good for him, had no clue what she saw in him, and lived his life in constant fear that he would screw up and lose her at any moment. The only feeling stronger than his affections for Lily was his absolute hatred of Black and Potter. That was not the point now though, as he could do nothing to those two until late tonight, and he was causing himself serious problems with Lily right now. Severus needed to deal with one problem at a time.

"I was by no means trying to put you in danger Lily," Severus said with cool concern filling his voice. "I merely do not think that Potter would be able to fight at all if he saw you with your wand drawn behind me. You know how much he…" Severus trailed off. He had been about to remind Lily how bad Potter wanted to be in his position in regards to Lily, but it was too painful for him to say. In truth, he himself felt that it was only his ego keeping Potter from immediately taking Lily from the Slytherin male. He also realized that he had not been weighing Potter's ego when he had thought of him not fighting if Severus brought a female second. Thinking on it now, he needed someone who could fire curses as fast as they could, no matter what the circumstances of the duel. Whether either of the two primary duelers was incapacitated or not, seconds would probably be needed. Black would surely be Potter's second, and he would never miss a chance to launch a curse at Severus. The hate there was even stronger between that of Severus and Potter.

Lily heard what her boyfriend was saying and could not even believe it. He had intended to use her as a tool to hesitate his enemy, probably so that he could get in a good curse while Potter did not have his defenses up. That was despicable, even for a Slytherin, and Lily simply would not have any part of it. She stood up immediately fuming again, and so mad that she could barely speak. "I hope you are thinking more clearly when the time comes for your duel," she said in a level tone that held a certain hint of poison in it. "I will see you later, maybe at the duel tonight if I feel better about being around you by then." With that she spun on her heel and marched quickly out of the library and up to the Gryffindor Common Room where her boyfriend had no hope of following her or knowing what she was doing.

Severus was left for the second time in minutes sputtering and shocked, merely watching his girlfriend leave. He had truly messed up this time; the only question was how bad it was. The only way that he was sure he could win her back quickly was to win the duel with Potter, and make it one no one at Hogwarts would ever forget. Then he could prove how serious he was about her, and about everything else. If that was to happen, the first thing he needed to do was find a second capable of watching his back when things got crazy. Thus, soon after Lily, Severus also quickly strode out of the library, heading in the opposite direction she had, towards the Slytherin Common Room, to look for someone who would be able to help him tonight.


	3. A Faint Glimmer of Hope

**Chapter 3: A Faint Glimmer of Hope **

Just after the encounter with Snape, James went back to the Gryffindor Common Room, with Sirius following quickly after. "What do you think Moony would think of the way you left Snivellus alone?" he asked James with a hearty, barking laugh. "He said to leave him alone if he was with Lily fair and square, I fail to see that he is," James retorted, laughing as well. They reached the entrance to the common room, and almost immediately Peter Pettigrew was at their heels almost like a servant as they sat in good chairs next to the fire. It seemed that he was permanently attached to the two of them, whenever he was allowed to be. It was shocking to most that he was still allowed to hang around them after six years, but the little rat had his purposes.

"Hey James, Sirius" he squeaked. "Shut up Wormtail," Sirius said with a sneer. "The big boys are trying to make important plans right now." Peter sunk to the ground between their two chairs, staying silent and looking very hurt. Sure his two heroes allowed him to stay around, but when they were doing truly fun things he was completely left out lately. For all the notice James and Sirius gave him anymore he might as well be a rug or something following them around all day. As long as he was completely quiet until Remus showed up everything was considered fine. If he spoke too much, he was yelled at and ridiculed until he stopped speaking or doing anything at all. Not exactly the ideal situation to have with the only people in the world you could think of as friends.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius were planning their strategy for the midnight duel they would be involved in that night. James generally preferred to duel Snivellus in front of a large crowd outside in the midday sun, but this time his opponent had set the terms. Thus, there might be a handful of people watching now, in the middle of the night, in a dark shadowed room where the snake had plenty of room to hide. This was one of the obstacles James would have to overcome before he could punish Snape for dating the girl who James was deeply in love with. It could hardly be considered his fault that he had somehow been unable to gain her affections. The fact that his primary rival somehow had stung James deeply. Thus Snape was constantly punished merely for the fact that he existed, and had what James desperately wanted. Tonight would hardly be any different than pretty much every day.

"You know, we are playing completely on his terms tonight, Padfoot," James said thoughtfully. "You ready for the best fight old Snivellus will ever be able to give us?" This got another barking laugh from his best friend, as both were always ready for the best fight they could get from their constant adversary. It had always been that way, and his current relationship with the object of James' affections only made the mutual hate grudge worse, if that was even possible. "I assure you Prongs; I am more than ready for tonight. In fact, this is going to be a lot of fun." At this both laughed, relishing the duel to come.

At this point their discussion of Snape and Lily was interrupted as Remus came through the portrait hole. "So, how did it go?" Sirius asked loudly. "That was awfully fast," observed James. "You okay Moony?" The look on the teenage werewolf's face said that he was clearly far from okay at the present moment. "Nothing happened is why I am so quick, Prongs. I am still too injured from the last night to be capable of doing her much good. Maybe if I feel better later tonight I can go back and catch her and give her what she wants. If not I guess both of us will just have to wait for another day to get what we need." With that Remus sighed heavily and sank into a chair next to James, his body too old and in pain for his years and his mind quickly growing more depressed than it should be.

Then Remus caught the look on the face of Sirius, and instantly knew that something was not quite right. He looked again and could see the same thing barely hidden on the face of James. They had been up to something, and chances were it dealt with Snape. It nearly always did, even before he started going out with the girl who had held the heart of James Potter in her hands for so long. Remus no longer even knew why he attempted to stop it; it would just go on anyway. The best he could do was hope that no one was killed or injured too seriously. It was not that he held any affection for Snape, there was no love lost there. If James or Sirius got kicked out of school or something though, Remus would hold himself completely responsible. He was a prefect, and even more he was there friend. He should be there to keep them from doing anything too far out of bounds. Knowing that was not an option, he could at least stand guard over wherever they were and make sure that no one else with any authority caught them doing something against school rules and quite probably illegal.

Resigned to his fate, he decided he might as well see what he would be getting himself into tonight on the behalf of his two troublemaking best friends. "So, what did you do to Snape today, and what is happening tonight because of it?" he asked with a half hidden sigh. He had some homework tonight, a lot in fact, which he doubted would ever get done at this rate. All the same, maybe this would surprise him and be fun. Or even better, maybe they had done something this afternoon that was over and he would not have to deal with it at all. One could always hope and dream for the best scenario possible, right?

James looked to Sirius, knowing he would be more than happy to fill their companion who had missed the fun in on all of it. "Nothing happened this afternoon, mate, just some friendly chat about who was worthy of dating who and who was a rich, arrogant you know what." Sirius let his barking laugh ring out through the common room yet again. Today was truly a day to be enjoyed and celebrated, and he took a long moment before he composed himself to speak again." Everything happens tonight at midnight Moony. Duel between Snivellus and James, hopefully it will shut the greasy bat up, for a while at least." He turned to James. "I am your second, right mate?"

"Of course, Padfoot," James began, but never made it any farther than that. Lily had just come through the portrait hole, and she looked really upset about something. "What's wrong princess," Sirius said loudly as she approached them, "finally figure out you are dating a giant bat who hates everything including you? Or is it just that time of the month?" Unluckily for him, she was standing right beside him by the time he finished, allowing her to turn on her heel and slap him in the face with all the strength she could manage before he could do anything about it. The force of it kept Lily frozen in place for a while and knocked Sirius back against his chair, surrounded by his laughing friends.

"You really did deserve that one Padfoot," Remus said as he gained control of himself first. "Yeah, I would have hit you, but she beat me too it," James said as he gained his composure and looked over at Lily who had turned towards the girls' dormitories and started walking away from them. "Now, if you guys would excuse me, I have someone else who could use my attention more than you three right now I do believe." With that he quickly pushed himself out of his chair and followed after Lily, catching her by the shoulder and turning her around so they are face to face.

"What?" she practically spat out at him, not in the mood to deal with his arrogance so soon after the episode with Severus. "Easy Lily, I just wanted to see what was wrong and make sure you were going to be okay," James said with what he deemed an innocent smile. This was the honest truth, though it was doubtful that James would be taken at his word. This proved to be true as Lily merely snorted and pulled out of his grasp. "Even if I was about to die or something, I assure you, you would not need to know about it James."

This was more talk than anything else though. As Lily turned away and walked the rest of the way to her dormitory James was on her mind, and in a better light than he had been there in a long time. _He really cares about me, more than Severus ever will;_ she could not stop herself from thinking. _Maybe he is growing up, and is no longer just a giant, walking ego._ Thoughts like this would fill her mind that night, as she began to see a whole new side to the overly popular hunk who had been after her heart for so long.


	4. The End of the Future

**Chapter 4: The End of the Future  
**

After Remus left to pursue whatever else his day would hold, the professor slowly closed the door and returned to her desk, and a stack of essays that would need to be graded at some point. Why did everything always turn out like this for her? It was starting to be very depressing. She knew with her position at Hogwarts a relationship was hard to keep, but if anything real developed she could always take a job somewhere else. The problem was, when she went after adults they were all either far too serious, or far too weird for her liking. Any good males were intimidated by her, either by the way she looked or how successful she was. They all thought she was far more unapproachable than she ever really would be. There were no middle ground male wizards who knew how to have fun, but could also get the job done when the time warranted it. It seemed that she was doomed to be lonely for a long time, possibly forever. It was not at all the way she had envisioned herself at this point in life.

This had been what caused her initially to look towards her students for someone to devote her time and energies to. Immediately, Remus Lupin stood out as everything she had been trying unsuccessfully to get from a relationship. Plus, with him as her student, it would not be at all out of the ordinary for her to make a move and approach him, and most students would love for a teacher who looked like her to show interest in them as more than a student. Surely this was the dream that every one of her male students had on their minds when they looked at her in the school. This would be very easy for her to make work, and she would in the long series of rejections she had been faced with lately. What more could possibly ask for right now? In her opinion, very little or nothing.

And their relationship had started out more than perfect earlier that year, and stayed that way for a while. The first two months or so were lovely, with them learning more about each other, and Minerva teaching the young male things he would have never expected to learn in the confines of a classroom. Almost the last month though, things had gone quickly downhill. She needed the physical part of the relationship, and it seemed more and more that Remus, even when healthy for him, was not going to be able to provide for them. It also seemed more and more likely that they were going to be discovered by someone who would not approve of their relationship and would be in a position to do something about it. Minerva somehow doubted that what she had with Remus was really worth losing her job over, at least not what they had right now. It was really all getting rather depressing for the dark haired, blue eyed woman. She should have many men after her attention, but she had none. She had only one teenage boy who would never know what to do with her, and she would probably not even have him for much longer.

She figured that she would take one more big chance to let Remus prove to her that he was worth the risk that she was taking in keeping the relationship they had. If he could not prove himself now, she would simply have to take her love life in some other direction, no matter how little she wanted to do that. Remus was not worth her career unless he could be the man she needed him to be, and any day now Snape or another of James Potter's enemies would go to Professor Dumbledore, and she would have to be fired no matter what the headmaster thought of her. There were just some things that could not be covered up, and teachers having relationships with students was one of those things. It was a fact of life and it was time to deal with that. It was time for Remus to show exactly what he was worth.

She pulled out a short roll of parchment and a quill and set out to write a letter to her young lover.

_Remus,_

_I need to know once and for all exactly how committed you are to me, and to what we have together. I cannot just sit and wait for you to be ready to grow up and be a man. I am a grown woman, and have the needs of one, not just in sex, but in all aspects of my relationship. I guess what I am trying to say is, we need to get together and talk and probably more. We need to do it tonight, and I will not take no for an answer. I do not care what else you have planned; you need to make time for this. I will see you around midnight; please do try to get somewhere close to that time. My priorities for tonight do not include waiting up all night for you to arrive at my chambers whenever you decide is a good time. The door will be unlocked, do not bothering knocking just come on in whenever you arrive._

_With all of my love,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

She read over the note, and then pointed her wand at it, shooting out warm air to quickly dry the fresh ink. It was almost time for dinner; she would discretely slip the note to Remus while he was in the Great Hall eating. For now she rolled up the note into a tight scroll and set it to the side of her desk, then pulled the essays that needed grading towards her. There was no need to dwell on Remus and their relationship too much, at least not this early. All would figure itself out tonight, and until it did there was nothing she could do about it. Plus, no matter what happened, she would still have to do her job. And right now, that job meant getting these essays of her fourth year students graded so that she could hand them back in their next class. She would have plenty of time to worry herself to death between when she finished grading the essays and midnight, when Remus would finally come to her again.

Dinnertime came and she entered the Great Hall right at the beginning and then waited, knowing James and his friends always ate right at the end of meals, but there just in case as she could not afford to miss them tonight. As soon as they were seated at the Gryffindor table, she strode quickly over to them, dropping the rolled up scroll in front of Remus and just continuing to walk until she was out of the Great Hall. She had no desire to see the reaction of the young man to what could only be seen as a very grim assessment of their relationship in that note. She would not know at all how he felt until he arrived in her private quarters that night. She graded the rest of the group of essays and then waited for him, silently thinking of every possible scenario that could happen that night, and what each would mean for her.

Lupin meanwhile was caught off guard by the scroll landing in front of him and did not open for a few long moments, but instead merely picked it up and stared at it. He finally broke the seal, very slowly reading it, then stopping and reading it again to allow it to sink in. Without saying a word, he reached over Peter to hand it to James to read, wanting him and Sirius to give him their thoughts on it. James clearly understood this, and read it quickly before passing it on to the friend sitting on his other side. The two of them exchanged significant looks before James began speaking to the recipient of the note, having to lean around Peter, who was trying to snatch the note from Sirius, who was casually holding it out of the small boy's reach while flirting with a girl seated a few chairs away on the other side of the table.

"So, Moony, I guess you won't be coming to watch the show tonight?" James asked gravely, not really wanting to deal with the content of the letter, but knowing as a friend and leader that he would have to now. "That sounds pretty bad mate, like it very well may be the end for you and good ole McG. Any idea what you are going to be saying and doing while I am humiliating Snivellus tonight?" He stopped and waited, knowing that Remus was smart enough to come to his own conclusion, without needing the advice Sirius would, or the direct orders that Wormtail would. Unfortunately, it seemed his good friend did not know what he was going to do, at least not yet.

"I'm not sure, mate, I think I need some time on my own to think everything through. I'm going to head to the Shrieking Shack, and I'll see you guys tonight after everything goes down. Try not to embarrass Snape too much James. Lily will probably be there, and I sincerely doubt that she will be overly impressed by you stunning him and then taking his clothes off and covering him in something disgusting looking. Do keep your head tonight." With that he left, not having touched his meal at all. The rest of the group ate and left to prepare themselves for the coming duel, pushing their Prefect friend's problems from their mind for now. They could deal with them after they had dealt with Snivellus.


	5. An Act of Bitter Hate

**Chapter 5: An Act of Bitter Hate**

Severus had spent the afternoon scouting the Slytherin Common Room for a competent second, and the majority of the evening plotting out the duel with him. Had he been a little smarter, he would have realized he should have checked on Lily to make sure she was okay, but that was the farthest thing from his mind right now. He was only interested in humiliating James, and would worry about Lily in the morning. As long as she was there to watch the show tonight, Severus would be exceedingly happy. He would prove to her again tonight that she had made the right choice out of her suitors; that he was vastly superior to Potter in every way that mattered at all. Sure Potter was athletic, popular, and probably better looking, but those things were not what really mattered. What mattered was that he, Severus, could curse anyone who ever threatened Lily into oblivion before they even had time to blink.

He and his second, a tall and menacing seventh year Slytherin who was the quickest man he could find at firing off curses both dark and menacing, entered the trophy room at five minutes to midnight. Severus was in the rear at first and then stepped out in front when he was quite sure that they were alone. There was no reason to risk himself getting harmed by a quick attack before the duel even began. "Be ready to attack as soon as it looks like Potter and Black will if they choose not to follow proper dueling etiquette," he said to his counterpart. "You never know with those two." With that he leaned plainly in sight against the middle of the wall furthest from the unlocked door, his second shifting his weight from one foot to the other as if he had no clue what he was supposed to do with himself while they were waiting. He was saved from deciding anything further, as the door opened again, admitting entrance to a group much larger than the two people waiting across from them.

James was standing out in front, leading the group gallantly into the area where the duel would take place. At his side was Sirius, who had his arm tightly around his latest girlfriend, a clear indicator that no curses would be fired until the proper niceties had been made at least. Just behind the two of them was Peter, along with a small group of girls who tended to follow James and Sirius wherever they went. At the very back, and trying to clearly distance herself from the rest, was Lily, who looked like she was very deep in thought about something, and almost did not realize where she was at. She made her way past the others as Sirius said goodbye to his latest fling and he and James took a few steps forwards to the middle of the room, the others heading to the edges of the room to leave plenty of room for the duel. Lily looked like she was about to say something, but she was stopped as Severus brushed past her with his second in tow to meet their opponents.

"Nice to see you know how to treat a woman Snivellus," James said sneeringly as he gave a short bow. "And Frederickson, I thought you knew better than to associate with such a lowlife as this, even most Slytherins won't go near him," he added as he bowed to the larger male. "Tonight will be the night I wipe that arrogant smile off of your face once and for all Potter," Severus said with a cruel laugh and a smirk. "Is it time for us to duel or are you not done trading insults yet?" In truth he wanted to get this going as soon as he possibly could. The more time he gave James and Sirius to prepare, the worse his chances were of even surviving this night. He was by far the worst duelist out of the four taking part, even if he did possess the most acquired knowledge. The reflexes and natural instincts of the two Gryffindors put him at a huge disadvantage any time they met in this way.

James merely sneered and pulled out his wand, making the necessary paces away and leaving his back to Snape, who had done the same as soon as James had started. Sirius and the Slytherin known as Frederickson had their wands pointed at Severus and James respectively, making sure that neither tried anything that would make the duel into an unfair fight. Both duelists got into the proper position and turned to face each other once more. Peter spoke from his place along the wall, directly in the middle of the room. "Alright, James, Snape, the duel will begin on the count of three. Make everything fair, no killing on school property, so stop your curses when your opponent is unconscious please." His squeak died out for a second as he looked from one to the other, and both nodded in acceptance of the terms, though the chances of either actually meeting those terms were slim to none. "Alright…one….two…."

"STOP!" shrieked Lily, running forward so that she was standing between the two bitter enemies and neither could fire a curse without risking hitting and harming her. "I am so very tired of you two behaving like children who both want the best spot to play in the sandbox. You are adult wizards and are less than a year from finishing school and being out in the world on your own. YOU NEED TO GROW UP. If you insist on going through with this duel, or any more that have no proper reason for happening, neither of you will be worthy of a minute of my time from this point forward. If you want a girl to fight over, you can just go and find another one." With that she stood, one stony set eye turned on each of them and a determined glare marring her pretty face. It was quite clear that she was going to see to it that this duel never happened.

Both would-be duelists lowered their wands, shamed looks on their faces. Neither had taken the time to stop and see what their feud was doing to the girl who they both dearly loved. As much as it hurt James to admit it, he would rather have Lily be happy with Snape than to have her be this unhappy. "I'm sorry Lily. I will never again lift an undeserved wand against Sniv- I mean Severus. I know I need to be more mature, and I will make this the first step in proving to you that I can be." With that he nodded to Sirius, who lowered his wand as well, which had been pointed at his greasy enemy still this entire time. As much as he hated to miss a chance to harm and humiliate an unarmed and unprepared Snape, he knew that James simply would not have it. The words of Lily were to be taken as law.

Severus meanwhile had never fully lowered his wand, but kept it slightly at the ready, where Lily could not see what he was up to. He also said nothing, but seethed angrily at the apologetic words of his enemy. Oh how he would regret lowering his wand. As soon as he had the opportunity, he would curse him into oblivion. His anger and hate now made all of his feelings for Lily like a tiny grain of sand on the beach. The only thing he cared about right now was getting even with Potter for making him look bad, no matter what it cost him. Tonight was to be a night of great vengeance if the downtrodden Slytherin had anything to do with it.

Unfortunately for James, Lily could not read the thoughts of Severus, and she thought the danger had passed. "I will see all of you later, when you have cooler heads and something more productive going on. Until then, I bid you goodnight." With that she stepped from between the two enemies, and crossed to the door of the trophy room. Just as she was preparing herself to leave, she heard a loud and abrupt noise behind her, causing her to spin around.


	6. History Repeats Itself

Chapter 6: History Repeats Itself

Remus slowly pushed the door open, allowing it to creak a little as an announcement that he had arrived. It was a quarter past twelve, and he had just arrived back at the school from the Shrieking Shack, having stayed there until he was absolutely certain of what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it. Even with an almost fully prepared speech, he knew tonight would be difficult at best, and torture if everything did not go exactly as he hoped it would. He should have seen this the whole time and made his decisions to prevent this from ever happening, but now it was too late. Now, he would have to have the most difficult one-on-one conversation since when he had told James he was a werewolf. What a week this had turned out to be. The life of the lycan never seemed to get any easier. Upon entering the office, he sat down at the chair in front of the teacher's desk, which she sat behind, waiting for her acknowledgment before he did anything else.

Minerva meanwhile, had heard him approaching the door, but this did nothing to stop the constant stream of thoughts that had run through her head all evening, intensifying as the hour of their meeting drew near. She intentionally remained looking down when the young werewolf entered her private domain, wanting to make sure he had no indication that he could begin the meeting in control. She simply had to tell him what she needed right now, only then would he be allowed to in some way communicate with her. After he was seated, she looked up and sighed, giving him a look that told him to remain quiet, and finished up composing her thoughts.

She opened her mouth, and even she dreaded the words that she was speaking. "I assume you read the note I gave you and that you realize why you are here, so I will be brief. I need you to grow up and be a man, now. Physically and mentally to grow up and mature so that you may fully meet my needs. If you are not prepared to do this, I am afraid the risks our current relationship carries with it are just not worth what there can be between us. It is time for you to make a decision Remus." With that, she fell silent, her only form of visible communication being the pain that her face and eyes spoke of. This kind of conversation was not one that could ever be easy for anyone to have, after all.

The pain on the professor's face was nothing to that of her student, though. As much as he knew this was coming, and had all evening as he thought things over, actually hearing the vocalization of these things hurt him in ways he had not anticipated. As mature as he was for his age, he was still a kid and he knew it. Only time would be able to change that, and it seemed that McG no longer had time to wait for him. He did not speak for a long time, as he was battling to stop himself from crying, so that he could appear tough and just maybe mature enough for the woman across from him. He lost the battle though, and one cold, sad tear rolled down his face, further exposing what his expression already did. It was over now.

As the tear hit the floor, the young lycan opened his mouth and began speaking, managing to only just cover up the wounds in his heart. "I am just not ready to grow up yet, and you know that as well as I do. If I am no longer worth your job because of that, I don't guess there is anything I can do about it. You need to make the decision that makes the most sense for you." He fell silent and looked up at her face, immediately seeing all the answer he needed written there in plain and simple clarity. He stood up and made his way to the door, opening it silently and closing it just as silently behind him. Remus knew that this would most likely be the last time he had the privilege of entering the private office of this lovely woman. Now he had to find a way to accept that, and make sure his friends had not managed to kill Severus Snape this time.

Minerva meanwhile, let the determined mask of impassiveness pass from her face as soon as Remus let the door close behind him. This had hurt her more than she would allow herself to show him, more than she had ever thought it would. In a way, Minerva knew that this had been her last chance at any form of real and true love, and she would not settle for anything less. She had poured too much of herself into Remus in the short period of time that they had shared, and there was no longer any love left in her heart. Maybe this feeling of blackness, of sickness, of immense pain would pass in time and maybe it would not. A long stream of tears slid down her face as memories engulfed her and she prepared for bed, not wanting to think of anything anymore.

Sadly, the bed was not the refuge that she thought it would be, and her thoughts took her in directions that were new and yet familiar, more painful even than tonight had been, and long locked away in her past. The memory of her first love, and how its end was a perfect mirror of tonight in far too many ways.

_He had simply been too perfect. Tall, strong, and muscular he was, with curly hair of the lightest brown that cascaded down his back, bright green eyes that seemed to know every secret the world held, and a smile that made you feel like you were the only person in the world who mattered when he allowed it to shine on you. This is what attracted her to the Charms professor when she was young and innocent and it was the first time that love really touched her. She had given herself to him for her first time in physical love and he had taught her so much in her fifteenth year of life._

_Eventually though, the talk came. He could not teach her anything else, and she needed to grow up now or find someone of an appropriate age for her so that he could do the same. She had clung to him tightly, trying for a week or two to appear a mature adult still in her fifth year at Hogwarts, but it just didn't work. Eventually she crumbled like the child she was and came to him in his office, and all he did was frown at her and ask why she had lied to him. She began crying uncontrollably and ran out of his office as he looked sternly at her until she could no longer see him._

Now Minerva was in her bed, thinking of how exactly she had mirrored this situation with Remus tonight. It seemed her love life, or lack thereof as often as not, had now come full circle and was at the beginning, in a place where most people can't relate. The teacher had broken the heart of the student, and neither would ever be the same again. Or that's the way it seemed to her at least. She knew that Remus was crushed now, not on the level she was, but he was crushed all the same. She never, in the world that her memory came from, saw any sign of pain after the break up from her former partner. She immediately became just another student to him, and for years, she questioned whether he had ever loved her at all, until it just hurt too much, and she finally stopped caring about him to save herself. Now she had reached that place again, and the love inside her heart was coming to its final crossroads.


	7. Epiphanies for Lily

Chapter 7: Epiphanies for Lily

Sirius had never fully lowered his wand from Severus, even if James had to appease Lily. As soon as the curse was fired at his best friend, Sirius threw aside all dueling etiquette that he still had and shot a stunner to deflect the spell flying at James. This stunner was quickly followed by another, which hit the greasy Slytherin's second before he knew what had happened. By this time James had his wand back in position and had a shield up in front of him as he stared at his enemy, hardly believing his daring, or his complete disregard for the command of the greatest girl in the world, who up until now had seen something worthy in the greasy haired, violent boy who seemed to not really care for her at all.

He fumed silently for a moment, staring at his worst enemy, though he had no intention of cursing him unless he absolutely needed to. Sirius could handle his own if Snivellus aimed at him, so as long as Lily was okay, James was fine with just talking and trying to get his opponent to back down that way. He used his shield to deflect a nasty looking dark spell before beginning his attempt to reason with the hated Severus. "I know you hate me, and you hate my mate Padfoot, but I would think you would at least respect Lily, considering that she sees enough in you to call you her boyfriend and she asked you to make this duel not happen. Put down your wand, Snivellus, and prove to everyone here that you're worthy of her. You know that's the only way that this situation can end with everyone being happy."

This talk did not work however, and at the mention of his hated nickname, Severus started firing darker curses at his number one enemy, while using a shield to deflect the curses that Black was sending at him now. He would deal with him later, Potter's words had made him look bad, and he would not allow anyone to do that. He had enough secret problems at home, and no one was going to give him problems here at school and get away with it. He was going to kill Potter and Black, he was going to enjoy it, and no one would ever be able to punish him for it. He would make it his life's work to see that both of them suffered, before finally dying slowly at his hand.

While this was going on, and a good ways into the duel between Sirius and Severus, Lily just watched in horror, with Peter crouching behind her, showing how much of a coward he was, especially considering that he was in no danger at all as far away as he was from the actual dueling. Lily was lost in her thoughts though, and did not hear the whimpering made in the small male's throat. _James isn't fighting Severus at all, even though he hates him so much. He is respecting my wishes and only defending himself, while trying to talk Severus out of the duel. Black is fighting for all he is worth, but I wouldn't expect anything different from him. Severus, well I guess James was right about him all along, he's not worth the time of day, and all he does is cause trouble. _

Her train of thought ended, and he decided it was time to end this duel for the night so that she could really go to bed. It was late, and it seemed that she had a lot to think about before she could actually get any sleep. She pulled her wand from her pocket quickly, and disarmed Severus, who had been far too distracted to see what she was doing. She did the same to Sirius, as he looked like he was about to take advantage of his opponent's unarmed situation to cause some serious damage. Lily did not want anyone to get hurt because of the stupid grudges held between these boys tonight, and she had something to say to all of them, or to Severus and James at least, before she could take her leave.

Holding both wands tightly in her hand so that their owners could not hope to get them back, she moved to stand between the two sides of the duel. "Tonight has really opened my eyes to a few things that I should have seen long ago," she began, casting a glare in the direction of Severus and a much warmer look at James. "Despite being warned about this all along, I guess I had to see it for myself before I would believe it, before I would believe that there is no good at all in some people." At this point she turned to fully face Severus, looking straight at him with fire burning in her bright green eyes. Her look was one of disillusionment and bitter loathing, and he knew immediately that whatever they had had between them was over now and nothing could ever bring it back.

"Severus, we are officially over. Nothing you can say will ever change that, not after what you did tonight. That was disgraceful and shameful, and if Sirius wasn't equally dishonest in his hate towards you, James would probably have gotten seriously hurt, by an unfair attack. I honestly don't know how you sleep at night, after you do things like that. Just because it might amuse Sirius and James, do you have anything to say in defense of yourself?" Sirius laughed openly at this, James cracked a smile, but managed to stop himself from laughing for now, as he attempted to keep up a respectable front for the girl that he loved.

Severus, meanwhile, had kept his head up the entire time, looking directly at Lily with an emotionless face, not showing that what was going on affected him at all. "Defense of myself?" he sneered. "I have done nothing that would require justification of any kind to anyone here tonight. My opponent was foolish enough to let his guard down in the middle of a duel; I decided to punish him for it. If his second had not of violated the rules of dueling, that lesson would have been properly received and Potter might have shut his arrogant mouth for the first time ever." With that Severus fell silent at the death glares he was receiving from both Lily and Sirius, knowing that continuing on in this manner would only cause him trouble.

Once he fell silent, Lily turned to face James, her scowl disappearing instantly as he looked on him with a newfound affection. "Thank you James, for showing that you are a mature man and being the only one to lower your wand fully when I asked you too. Things like that mean a lot to me." She smiled at him warmly to show this, carefully hiding her disgust for the boy to his right, who was clearly trying to think of a way to free his wand from Lily's grasp so that he could try again to curse Severus. "I'm sorry for taking so long to realize you were right about Severus," she continued with a deep breath. "When you return to the common room I will be waiting in a chair by the fire, I would like to have a private conversation with you."

With that she revived the stunned Slytherin and tossed Severus and Sirius their wands back. "Do not use these tonight, and do not let me hear of you using them on each other again," she said sternly, then turned to leave. James watched her wistfully for a minute before turning to find Sirius glaring at the two Slytherins and Peter cowering in fear still. "Wormtail, Padfoot mate, let's get out of here, shall we?" With that he led them out of the room and away from the silently and stoically angered Severus and his silently confused partner, back towards Gryffindor Tower and the end of their busy and unusual night.


End file.
